In his first interview since Whitney Houston’s death, her ex-husband Bobby Brown spoke to Matt Lauer of NBC’s "Today" show, admitting that he is still in love with Whitney. “Our relationship was great,” said Brown. “I had 14 beautiful, beautiful years with that woman.” In the interview, which aired Wednesday morning, Brown also stated “I can honestly say that I love that woman with everything that I am. And I believe she loved me the same way.”

Many people believed that Brown was the reason Houston started using drugs in the first place. As seen on their 2005 reality show “Being Bobby Brown,” Houston and Brown’s drug use affected their relationship in a highly negative way. Brown claims that before meeting Houston he would drink alcohol and smoke marijuana, but that she had in fact introduced him to harder drugs. “I worried about it when we first got together until I tried it,” he said. “And when I tried it, for some reason, I have an addictive personality.”

When Brown and Houston separated in 2006, Brown tried to clean up his act and assumed Houston was doing the same and did not realize she was still battling her cocaine use. "I was hurt ... because, you know, me being off of narcotics for the last seven years — I felt that she was, you know, I didn't know she was struggling with it still. But at the same time, you know — listen, it's a hard fight," he said. Brown also said he regrets not being there to help Houston with her drug problems, saying “I coulda done something different, you know to ensure that she had a longer life.”